Vegan mom takes on Disney..... Dec, 2011 PTR

[veggiemama]

I got the table all decorated with stuff from our last trip and their new present for the beginning of this trip....

And now I was ready to have the kids come home. Called my DH and told him to bring them home... finally!!

I heard them come up to the door with the Mickey Head on it....

DS " what the heck is that??"

DD " I think mom might be painting the door, but what's with ALL the colors!"



The opened the door....

Can you see the lights going off?

My B says " Are we going to Disney?"

And that's when My son starting jumping up and down and yelling "we're going to Disney, we're going to Disney"

they were so excited they didn't even ask WHEN

 

[veggiemama]

Time to open up new gifts....

Already busy reading them

And of course, we had to enjoy some cupcakes!

And one photo of my elusive hubby....

So that's it. That's how we told them
We probably spent about an hour talking and looking at books. Eventually they did start to ask about when we were going and where we were staying and all that fun stuff. Needless to say I think we made their year!!

Coming back to update later on the changes I have made to our ressies and YES I got the FD!!

Gotta run now though. house showing in 45 min......

 

[annmarieda]

The reveal looks so special. Does it feel good to have it done? I don't know how you kept it a secret so long. I would have given it away some time ago.

 

[shocky5]

Job well done! They looked so happy! And I love the pic of your DH loving on Mickey.

SO excited for you and for them to know! How much fun to be able to talk about it. We are still withholding... it is getting harder... the kids keep asking "When do we get to go?" And I just casually ignore or give them one of these...

How is the 'house stuff' going??

 

[veggiemama]

The reveal looks so special. Does it feel good to have it done? I don't know how you kept it a secret so long. I would have given it away some time ago.

It is such a relief to have it done! You know the funniest thing.... I asked B if she had figured it out and she said NO, she had no clue. And here I thought for sure she had overheard conversations or saw my book lying around!

Job well done! They looked so happy! And I love the pic of your DH loving on Mickey.
Me too! My DH is not a picture person, so that fact that I managed to get this was great! Most of the time he takes the pictures.
SO excited for you and for them to know! How much fun to be able to talk about it. We are still withholding... it is getting harder... the kids keep asking "When do we get to go?" And I just casually ignore or give them one of these...
See, that's what I knew I wouldn't be able to do. Are you planning to tell them soon?
How is the 'house stuff' going??

House stuff:

Well, this is the funny thing. My sister and her husband 'saw' the house yesterday officially with the agent. They are putting in an offer today. She and I are very close and so we have of course talked about most of this. It is just so weird and quirky and just like our strange family to do this kind of thing!

We have another showing tonight, others have cancelled so this is only a second showing of the house. So if they put in an offer we would only have 2 to choose from!

I told my sister that if we end up accepting their offer I would end up at their house helping to get it ready to go on the market next week.... life is sooooo weird! On top of all that My parents are moving as well! So we figured it all out and if things were to work out on all ends.....


ALL 3 OF US would be MOVING the SAME weekend!

 

[annmarieda]

House stuff:

Well, this is the funny thing. My sister and her husband 'saw' the house yesterday officially with the agent. They are putting in an offer today. She and I are very close and so we have of course talked about most of this. It is just so weird and quirky and just like our strange family to do this kind of thing!

We have another showing tonight, others have cancelled so this is only a second showing of the house. So if they put in an offer we would only have 2 to choose from!

I told my sister that if we end up accepting their offer I would end up at their house helping to get it ready to go on the market next week.... life is sooooo weird! On top of all that My parents are moving as well! So we figured it all out and if things were to work out on all ends.....


ALL 3 OF US would be MOVING the SAME weekend!

OMG! What a crazy life you have indeed. So am I getting this right? Your sister has made an offer on your current house? Too funny!
That will be a lot of you moving all at the same time. I think you will deserve a medal once it is all done.

 

[veggiemama]

Well, it's over. The house is not ours, we will not be moving.

The other offer completed and they will be getting the lovely new home.

Oh well, good thing we still love our house. I'm a little sad at the moment but trying to remember that I really do love our house.

On the up side, I have contractors coming next week to give me a quote on remodeling the basement so that I can have a private studio with a door that is sound proof. That way the kids can still use their rooms and upstairs and I can do ALL my teaching downstairs..... in the end this will end up being a really good thing.

I kind of knew that my DH was not as thrilled about moving as I was. He loves our deck and hot tub and yard and garage.... you know, all the guy things. He was willing to move but I was not as confident that he would end up being ok with things. The last thing I would want is a grumpy husband who missed his house. So again I say, in the end this is a good thing.

Now back to Disney planning

 

[shocky5]

OMG! What a crazy life you have indeed. So am I getting this right? Your sister has made an offer on your current house? Too funny!
That will be a lot of you moving all at the same time. I think you will deserve a medal once it is all done.

DITTO what Ann said! But what a fun story you will have to tell!!!

 

[annmarieda]

Well, it's over. The house is not ours, we will not be moving.

The other offer completed and they will be getting the lovely new home.

Oh well, good thing we still love our house. I'm a little sad at the moment but trying to remember that I really do love our house.

On the up side, I have contractors coming next week to give me a quote on remodeling the basement so that I can have a private studio with a door that is sound proof. That way the kids can still use their rooms and upstairs and I can do ALL my teaching downstairs..... in the end this will end up being a really good thing.

I kind of knew that my DH was not as thrilled about moving as I was. He loves our deck and hot tub and yard and garage.... you know, all the guy things. He was willing to move but I was not as confident that he would end up being ok with things. The last thing I would want is a grumpy husband who missed his house. So again I say, in the end this is a good thing.

Now back to Disney planning

I am sorry. That is disappointing. Do you think you will look for a different house?

At least you have the Disney trip to look forward to...

 

[momabaarjo]

I so your reveal!!! The kids look so excited!

:sad2d: Sorry about the house...know how it feels. We found a house past fall we wanted...had to wait to see if someone else's offer went through and of course it closed.

 

[Monknmom]

I wouldn't change until it is official. Even if you did change... you would still have to rebook with the new code then anyway... so re-booking early (I don't' think) gives you anything other than peace of mind that you have a room where you want (but just not at maybe the price you want)

I did listen to you Ann, I just haven't been on to tell you! I had to change anyway though because of school!



I am so happy for you with all of these savings! Really I need to learn from you and Ann on how to get all of that stuff!
OOOOO the revela looks awesome! You did go all out, I don't care what you say, that looks like an awesome reveal! I'm glad that DH played along to keep the kids out too! Did your daughter ever say "I knew it?"
How crazy would that be everyoe moving at once? My in laws moved out of a house we were all renting the same time we did, my poor DH and BIL didn't get much rest!
I'm sorry about the house! At least it wasn't as big a deal to loose it and you can come up with a better alternative that will fit all of your other needs!

 

[veggiemama]

I am sorry. That is disappointing. Do you think you will look for a different house?

At least you have the Disney trip to look forward to...

Nope, we won't be looking for another house. we really do love the house we are in. I am looking into renovating our basement though now if it's not one project it's another around here!

I so your reveal!!! The kids look so excited!
It was fun.... I was very relieved that the kids got as excited as they did... weren't sure if the were too 'old' for this kind of stuff.
:sad2d: Sorry about the house...know how it feels. We found a house past fall we wanted...had to wait to see if someone else's offer went through and of course it closed.

As my DH and I kept saying, even if we didn't get the house we still won. We love our current house and there were a number of things that would have been really hard to leave behind.... now we don't have to!

I did listen to you Ann, I just haven't been on to tell you! I had to change anyway though because of school!



I am so happy for you with all of these savings! Really I need to learn from you and Ann on how to get all of that stuff!
Being completely obsessive compulsive seems to do it for me!! What about you Ann???

OOOOO the revela looks awesome! You did go all out, I don't care what you say, that looks like an awesome reveal! I'm glad that DH played along to keep the kids out too! Did your daughter ever say "I knew it?
It was fun Dh is a good sport.... almost all the time My daughter B actually told me that she had NO clue what was going on.... apparently she is not as observant as I give her credit for!!!"
How crazy would that be everyoe moving at once? My in laws moved out of a house we were all renting the same time we did, my poor DH and BIL didn't get much rest!
I'm sorry about the house! At least it wasn't as big a deal to loose it and you can come up with a better alternative that will fit all of your other needs!

It would have been totally nuts and completely like our family to do something like this! Unfortunetly we didn't get the house though in the end it is still a good thing.

 

[veggiemama]

Haven't been here for a few days. I started 'work' again this week and I'm trying to do a lot of stuff and of course the lazy summer days still have hold of me!!

I'm trying to get in 10 hours of prep time a week, 15 hours of playing piano a week and I'm spending 10 plus hours at my church painting murals and stages and getting ready for our fall kick off. Makes me tired just thinking of it! I have to say, taking almost 6 weeks off playing was NOT a good thing. I feel very slow and lethargic and behind on my playing now. BTW, next to Disney my other total obsession is playing piano. I typically play 25 hours a week or 4 hours mon-fri and 5 on Sat. I start up after the Sept long weekend and I'm suppose to have 6 of my 9 pieces ready to be analyzed.... I won't bore you with all the details of what that means but let's just say, it will take me more than the 15 hours a week I am putting in right now to accomplish this!!! Yikes, I was not suppose to take so much time off. Ok, now I'm starting to stress.... and yes, I do end up stressing a lot over piano.... good thing I love it!


OK, this was NOT what I was going to post about! What I wanted to post about was our change in plans because of FD.

SO....


After spending a lot less time on hold and on the phone than I thought I would and talking to a very helpful CM, here is our new plan.

Dec 10 -11 staying at AKL!!!! So excited about this! Can't aford to stay all week but LOVE the idea of having a night here. I even splurched and we are staying in an Arusha room, right where the 2 Savanah's meet. My DD is over the moon excited about this.... it has always been her dream to stay here

Dec 11-17 we will be at POFQ. We did get our FD for the week

And though I haven't booked it yet we are planning to go to Harry Potter World on the Friday the 16th....for FREE!!!!

This is my kind of holiday! I have now, with all the changes and savings managed to come in $500 under my original budgeted price!

 

[swwake]

That reveal was awesome! Thanks for sharing the pics and the details. What were the gift books you got the kids?

That's great that you got to get the FD!

Sorry to hear the new house fell through, but it seems your family is really happy with where you are, so that's much less stress.

Are you composing when you play piano? Or is the analyzing for lessons? I took 4 years of piano and we have a decent keyboard. I'd love to get back into it someday. I know it's a nice stress-release for you!

The travel plans sound so exciting. We stayed at AKL last year. You and the kids will LOVE it. I have always wanted to stay at POFQ. I hope we can at least walk through it this trip. We married in New Orleans, so I think it would be a special place for us to visit.

 

[Monknmom]

Everyone loves coming in UNDER budget!!! Glad that you were able to get all of that! and your daughter can have the view that she has wanted!

As far as the piano, I have no idea about that stuff and how long things take..... I am sure that while you sit though it will come? I know that if you just give my DH a guitar and he plays he finds things and ends up staying on longer than planned! So maybe that will happen for you!

 

[veggiemama]

aaaahhhh Piano

It's kind of one of those things that's hard to explain.... boy I hope that doesn't come across sounding snotty!!

I have being playing piano for 32 years. I taught myself to play when I was 3 and started taking lessons when I was 4. I used to compete but I don't anymore.... I kind of burnt out when I was a teenager. I went through the teenage 'you can't make me play' temper tantrum and dropped out of competition, performance and blew my chances at getting a scholarship to a music school (think Julliard's for the states - I was working for the opportunity of the equivalent school in Canada) I never really stopped playing but it took me 10 years to get back to taking lessons. The teacher I work with now is amazing, she pushes me hard and takes no excuses. I kind find it hard to balance piano and the rest of life sometimes. It is one of those things that consumes me and if there were no other demands on my time I think I would spend 14 hours a day playing. But that chance I had as a young adult to really take my playing and make something of myself with it has passed. I am no longer able to pursue a professional concert pianist career.... well, that's not true, I could pursue it but I'm not willing to give up EVERYTHING to do that. Really, I would be talking about living on my own, no family, no anything else to pursue this and I'm just not willing to go there..... unless I'm having a really bad day with kids and life in general!!

So these days.....
I teach. I teach privately and I teach group lessons for children under the age of 7 years.
I take lessons, I take courses but I do it all privately. The goal is to get my degree from the Royal Conservatory of Music at some point in my life. It will take me a long time though because I can't commit to studying full time. That's ok though, I think in the end the balance would probably be better for me.

So right now I am gearing up for next years teaching and lessons. my goal over the summer was to pick my repetoire and do my musical anaylsis on it. Don't want to sound all uppity ..... I play concert level pieces and it takes time to find a good selection of what to work on - each piece is 5-10 minutes long of playing. I then analysis the music - I write out the chord progressions, figure out the melodic patterns and harmonic counterparts. I find the 'story' and the variations. usually I rewrite the piece so that I can break apart the different levels of voicing and figure out what voice needs to be heard where in the piece. It's a long process, but totally addictive! I spend hours with my staff paper at the piano assessing and reassessing what I am playing. Typically it takes me about 1 1/2 years to bring a piece to performance level. I have 2 pieces right now that are 'finished' (nothing is ever completely finished - I will always find things to improve) and I am suppose to start 4-6 more this year. I have picked a few pieces now - I really love the classics, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Clementi, Haydn etc so those are easy to pick. But I also need to pick from the 20th and 21st century composers and I have to admit that I am not a huge fan so finding something that I really want to play can be challenging.

Here is the piece that I'm considering.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcsMhuREKbw

Wonder if that will work?

Anyways Kind of a long winded rant that is completely off topic.... how did I manage that???

 

[swwake]

Ohhh thanks so much for sharing a little (big) piece of you. It's very interesting to me how you do what you do. Maybe a little like myself and spreadsheets (which are also rarely "finished"). I could work on them forever!

I like the Cat & Mouse. Seems it would be fun for a student.

 

[annmarieda]

After spending a lot less time on hold and on the phone than I thought I would and talking to a very helpful CM, here is our new plan.

Dec 10 -11 staying at AKL!!!! So excited about this! Can't aford to stay all week but LOVE the idea of having a night here. I even splurched and we are staying in an Arusha room, right where the 2 Savanah's meet. My DD is over the moon excited about this.... it has always been her dream to stay here

Dec 11-17 we will be at POFQ. We did get our FD for the week

And though I haven't booked it yet we are planning to go to Harry Potter World on the Friday the 16th....for FREE!!!!

This is my kind of holiday! I have now, with all the changes and savings managed to come in $500 under my original budgeted price!

How awesome is that going to be!!!

 

[momabaarjo]

Sounds like lots of magic this week...wish my budget would get a little relief!

 

[Monknmom]

I love how people can just make that either by themselves or with a teacher! I am horrible at anything musical (I sing and DH and DS ask me to stop!) DH is really great at guitar and his whole family is musical I hope that my DS picks up on that! To me that sounds like a nice piece to play! Keep up the good work! We understand if you take a few days away from us to do what you have to! Maybe try to record you one day too!!!